Klaus-Michael Kuehne wants TUI gone and to sell its Hapag share

MAJOR Hapag-Lloyd share holder Klaus-Michael Kuehne called on the German travel giant TUI AG, the former owner of the container shipping line and still a big stockholder, to leave the company altogether, Reuters reported.

The 72-year-old owner of Swiss logistics group Kuehne + Nagel affirmed he would like to raise his own 15 per cent stake in Hapag-Lloyd.

"There are surely investors that buy stakes in companies that are still healthy," Mr Kuehne told a Hamburg club meeting of business journalists, adding he could imagine that Hapag-Lloyd would attract private equity investors.

Hanover-based TUI sold the majority of Hapag-Lloyd early last year, but was forced to keep more shares - 43 per cent - than planned to avert a collapse of the deal with the Albert Ballin consortium that includes Mr Kuehne.

Last September Hapag Lloyd, ranked the fifth largest container shipping company, and for a EUR1.2 billion (US$1.75 billion) in state loan guarantees.

A spokesman for TUI pointed to previous statements that the company would sell its stake in Hapag-Lloyd eventually, adding there were currently no talks on the matter. While TUI can sell its shares to Albert Ballin no earlier than January 2012, it can offer the stake to other investors before then.

Source: www.schednet.com